Scoreboard Spotlight: Scott Cunningham's Out Run Record and More

This week on the Scoreboard Spotlight we check out some clever Atari visual design, a points run involving our favorite TurboGrafx gremlin, and a beautiful drive across Europe with a Sega classic.

Here at Twin Galaxies, we love a good high score and a record time. So each week we look deep in the wealth of Undisputed and Verified scores in the Twin Galaxies Adjudication Archive and dig up some spectacular recent scores! On this edition of the Scoreboard Spotlight, we take a look at a game that attacks the senses, an impressive run of Tetris, and a new high score on a Sega classic.

Peter Nadalin - Battlezone (Atari 2600 EMU): Points

Battlezone is one of those Atari games that was a little ahead of its time. Adopting a first person view and using clever sprite tricks to create a 3D illusion, Battlezone is complex in design, but simple in the actual gameplay like most titles on the Atari 2600. Players take down the other tanks, while avoiding death. Seems simple enough, but trying to dodge shots in that view is not easy, which is why Peter Nadalin’s run stands out. Nadalin now sits at the top of the Atari 2600 track, where he earned 114,000 points.

Nadalin also uses a fairly common video layout, making it more enjoyable as a viewer.

Andrew Mee - Attack of the Mutant Camels (Commodore Vic-20): Points

Now for a game that is fairly hard to watch; Attack of the Mutant Camels on the Vic-20 is a visual and auditory attack more on the player than the titular camels. Seizure warning aside, Andrew Mee was able to put up a respectable 23,352 points, about half way from the top spot. It’s a weird part of gaming history though that is certainly worth checking out. There was an anything goes approach to game design during those days, which is how we got such outlandish concepts.

Sam Tuff - Tetris & Dr Mario, Tetris (SNES): Points

There are few things more classic than Tetris, so when we see a solid Tetris score drop, we get a little excited. Sam Tuff now sits at the top of this version of Tetris on the Tetris & Dr Mario cartridge with 465,044 points. There is a lot of decision making that goes into high level Tetris play, which makes for an entertaining watch, even for those that have little knowledge on the specifics.

Could Tuff be a name to watch out for on other Tetris boards? Only time will tell, but this score is an excellent start.

A while back we did chat with one of the best Tetris players on the block, Jonas Neubauer, so check out that interview for more Tetris insight.

Michael Antle - Bonk 2: Bonk’s Revenge (Wii VC): Points

Bonk is such a weird series of platformers, creating one of the most unique characters of the mascot race on the TurboGrafx 16. A lot of those excellent TurboGrafx games wound up on the Wii Virtual Console, which is where we see Michael Antle putting up a score of 60,850 points on Bonk 2: Bonk’s Revenge. It’s not a game that we usually see score chases on, but it creates a completely different thought process from playing normally.

We really should see a Bonk collection or something on modern consoles. We miss that crazy little cretin.

Scott Cunningham - Out Run (MAME): Points

Driving with the wind in one’s hair in the beautiful European countryside is something magical that was attempted to be captured in video game form with Sega’s Out Run. It is on this title where Scott Cunningham shows that there is still progress to be made, putting up a glorious 55,019,640 points. Slick driving, smart routing, and overall mastery of this breakthrough arcade title puts Cunningham at the of the board, clearing a phenomenal score by Martin Bedard that was set in 2008 by a couple million points.

This goes to show that even if a record stands for a decade, there is almost always a way to do better. There are few records safe at Twin Galaxies and we love it when seemingly perfect scores are toppled.

Bounty of the Week - Tekken 3 (PSOne) Time Attack and Survival

Tekken 3 was one of the best releases in the franchise, solidifying the series as a fighting game staple in arcades and homes alike. Let’s jump back into it with two different opportunities, Time Attack and Survival Mode. Track rules can be found here. With EVO and the first Twin Galaxies Fight Club jazzing us all up, now's a good time to jump back into a solid fighting game.

Last week, we looked into the Mega Man X leaderboards and while there wasn’t a submission on the Minimalist run, there was submission on the general fastest completion track by Matt Nielsen that is still in process. It is certainly a title that makes for a superb speed game, and it’s fairly easy to pick up now that the Mega Man X Legacy Collection has launched on all consoles. We’ll eventually need new tracks for those releases, but for those that want to check it out before committing to the original track, it is an option.

This covers our Scoreboard Spotlight for this week. As a reminder, these were just a few of exceptional records that were adjudicated and accepted recently. Every record that made it through verification and landed on our leaderboards has a well-deserved place in the Twin Galaxies gaming pantheon.

Keep scoring high and finishing fast and you just might end up on our next Scoreboard Spotlight!

Be sure to check out our previous Scoreboard Spotlight, in which we check out Salim Farhat’s truly incredible score chase of the Punisher arcade game and more.